Here's an article from a downstate Illinois paper arguing that recent increases in crime in that part of the state are a result of Chicago tearing down its large public housing buildings in the late 90s, and causing residents of such buildings to move downstate and bring their "criminal tendencies" with them. [Mark Godsey]

An adjunct professor at Capital Law School, who is an AUSA by day, has created a new advanced forensics course. Topics to be covered include explosives, dna, computer analysis, lifting fingerprints, etc. Details. . . [Mark Godsey]

John Garvey of BC and Amy Barrett of Notre Dame have posted Catholic Judges in Capital Cases on SSRN. Here's the abstract:

The Catholic Church's opposition to the death penalty places Catholic judges in a moral and legal bind. While these judges are obliged by oath, professional commitment, and the demands of citizenship to enforce the death penalty, they are also obliged to adhere to their church's teaching on moral matters. Although the legal system has a solution for this dilemma by allowing the recusal of judges whose convictions keep them from doing their job, Catholic judges will want to sit whenever possible without acting immorally. However, litigants and the general public are entitled to impartial justice, which may be something a judge who is heedful of ecclesiastical pronouncements cannot dispense. Therefore, the authors argue, we need to know whether judges are legally disqualified from hearing cases that their consciences would let them decide. While mere identification of a judge as Catholic is not sufficient reason for recusal under federal law, the authors suggest that the moral impossibility of enforcing capital punishment in such cases as sentencing, enforcing jury recommendations, and affirming are in fact reasons for not participating.

Congratulations to Cynthia Lee (George Washington University) and Angela Harris (Boalt Hall School of Law, UC Berkeley), who have teamed up to produce a brand new Criminal Law casebook, published by West earlier this year. Their casebook provides a fresh perspective on the criminal law, highlighting issues of race, gender, and sexual orientation where applicable, while keeping a fairly traditional organizational focus. A special feature of the book is the introductory text that appears at the outset of each chapter and at the beginning of most sections. These introductory comments provide a doctrinal roadmap for the student reader. Instead of bullet lists of notes and questions following the cases, Lee and Harris include such questions and possible answers in the Teachers Manual. [Jack Chin]

Stats in NAACP's newest report show the decline in past year, as well as fact that 54.5% on death row in the USA are racial minorities. Some of decline in past year due to juveniles being moved off death row after Roper. Story and report . . . [Mark Godsey]

The DNA-based prosecution of the person accused of the 1969 killing of Michigan Law Student Jane Mixer has led to a conviction. However, the mysterious drop of blood found at the scene, linked to a third party with no known connection to the killer or victim, remains unexplained. [Jack Chin]